We all want to defend and protect our countries. That is not only natural but is a moral duty when there is a genuine and imminent threat. However, the Church has consistently applied the most stringent rules governing when a war might be recognised as "just". The Catholic Catechism tells us:

The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:

- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;

- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

- there must be serious prospects of success;

- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

Note that ALL conditions must exist at one and the same time.

Looking just at the Iraq war, our leaders misled those of us who were not familiar with the history and politics of the region into believing that Saddam Hussein had not only the means but the imminent intention of causing us grave harm with alleged weapons of mass destruction which, we were told, he was hiding from inspectors. Those of us more familiar with the history and current state of international affairs were absolutely certain that Saddam Hussein did not possess such weapons and that his ambitions did not reach from within his own region and therefore opposed the war vigorously, standing alongside Pope John Paul II, the majority of Catholic Bishops and the Bishops and leaders of all the mainstream denominations, but it was understandable that people who had not paid much attention to Iraq prior to the hype would be fooled by repeated messages of imminent and certain attack. However, as time and evidence have demonstrated, there were no WMDs, no certainty of attack and therefore no risk of lasting and grave damage to be committed by the Iraqi regime upon our nations. With this knowledge should come the realisation that what some might have thought was a just war was far from just, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Whether all other means had been exhausted is still open to debate, although the weapons inspectors were giving favourable reports suggesting that the UN path was, in fact working.

Prior to the war, many US Generals expressed their doubts as to the potential for success, with the limited number of troops they were granted. Furthermore, historians and analysts were predicting that chaos would ensue and that the US would be caught in a quagmire of fighting for years to come. This was known ahead of time, therefore the Just War principle was not met on the count of there being serious prospect of success.

Finally, it was also predicted by most analysts and historians that Iraq would fall into chaos, producing a worse situation for the Iraqi people than they were enduring under Saddam Hussein, so the final condition had not been met.

Remember that if even one condition is not met, a war cannot be deemed to be "just" so clearly the war in Iraq is unjust. Today, we are beginning to hear similar rhetoric starting to come out of the White House concerning Iran as we heard about Iraq and it is time for American Catholics to start a serious examination of conscience, remembering that we are primarily of God's Kingdom, before we are citizens of nations. Catholic first, citizen second. We cannot continue to support the notion of preemptive attacks while our Church so patently condemns that notion.

Some further reading:

Catholic Bishops Add Voice to Anti-War Protests
Pope's Envoy Brings Message of Peace
Statement on War with Iraq
Church Leaders on the Threat of War in Iraq

<<Go back